Part 2 – Getting to the root of the problem

As we discussed in Part 1, minor health complaints are often a signal that your body isn’t tolerating something you’re exposed to. These intolerances can show up in various ways. Aches, pains, stomach upsets, headaches, and other minor conditions are your body’s way of getting your attention, so you notice the problem and take action to fix it.

These complaints are a sign that your body’s physiology is being pushed off balance, undermining your health and setting you up for injury and disease. So the sooner you can eliminate the things you don’t tolerate, the better!

How do you find out exactly what you’re not tolerating?

The first step is to take an inventory of the current state of your body. Go through the signs of intolerance listed in Part 1 and identify which ones affect you, as well as any other minor health complaints you may have. The goal is to get familiar with your current baseline health status, so if there are any changes you’ll know.

Next make a list of what you’re exposed to in your diet, environment, and lifestyle, especially –

• Things you’re exposed to on a regular basis.
• Things that were introduced shortly before a new health problem developed.
• Things you’re exposed to only occasionally, but which seem to correlate with times when a particular health complaint occurs.

Maybe you eat the same thing several times per week or even every day – even staples like bread, rice, or potatoes can cause an intolerance if your body is exposed to them constantly. If your nose gets snotty, you develop a slight cough, or your belly starts bellyaching every time you eat a certain food, those are signs that your body isn’t tolerating it.

Or, maybe you recently added a new product to your personal or household routines - a new shampoo or a new kitchen cleaner. You’re suddenly finding it harder to breathe every night after you climb into bed? Perhaps that correlates with the new laundry detergent you started using.

 

Besides foods and personal care products, there can be environmental contributors to health problems. Does your house have mold contamination? Are the corn fields nearby being sprayed with pesticides? Or maybe your new curtains are off-gassing fire-retardant chemicals? These can all influence how your body works and undermine your health.

Think through the various factors that may affect your body, including:

• Foods, supplements, and medications, as well as water sources
• Personal care products such as soap, deodorant, and lotion
• Clothes, bed linen, curtains, upholstery, and other fabrics and the products used for cleaning them
• Smoke or vapors from tobacco, pot, cloves, or e-cigarettes
• Perfumes, air fresheners, essential oils, and other smells or fragrances
• Cleaning and maintenance products for your home, car, and office
• Mold, paint, insecticides, and other household chemicals and contaminants
• Chemicals released by businesses or agriculture in your area
• Sources of electromagnetic fields, like induction cook-tops, digital electronics next to your bed, or nearby electrical substations
• Environmental conditions like heat, cold, humidity, and altitude

You’re a unique, individual human being with a unique genetic makeup and a unique life history; no one else is exactly like you! Therefore, the list of specific things that you don’t tolerate will be highly specific to YOU.

 
Just because a food is generally considered healthy doesn’t mean it’s healthy for YOU. If your body isn’t tolerating a certain food then it doesn’t matter how much nutrition it provides – it will still have a negative impact on you.

Even things that are considered “healthy” – like spinach, peaches, or lavender oil – may cause problems for YOU. So don’t cross something off the list of potential culprits just because it’s “natural” or “healthy” or “safe.” Anything and everything can cause an intolerance, especially if it’s something you’re exposed to over and over.

Next, start experimenting!

Once you’ve mapped out your baseline health status and identified a list of factors you think might be affecting you, the next step is trial and error to confirm which, if any, are what you’re not tolerating.

You can do this one by one – for example, cut out wheat from your diet, change to hypoallergenic laundry soap, or stay in a different room for a while – and then monitor how you feel to see if there’s any change. You can also do this in groups, making several changes at once, then reintroducing each item one by one to see the effects.

Keep in mind, if your body is reacting to something it may take several weeks or even a month for your body to readjust and get back to normal. Some changes may be noticeable right away – for example, if you eliminate dairy foods your nose may stop clogging up after meals, or you may stop waking up with a headache. But other problems such as skin conditions or joint pain may take much longer to show improvement. So even if you don’t notice a change right away, it’s a good idea to maintain each trial for at least a month or two, to see if it’s working.

If you start feeling better, great! You’re on the right track! If not, then move on and try something else to see if it makes a difference. You may find there’s one thing in particular that seems to trigger the problem, or (more likely) you’ll find multiple things that all contribute.

You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel!

You’ll feel better and better as you remove the items you’re not tolerating. These exposures have been pushing your physiology farther and farther off-balance, probably for a long time; with them gone, your body has a chance to reestablish its normal healthy state. As a result, many kinds of aches, pains, skin conditions, joint problems, sleeplessness, and other minor health problems will often magically resolve!

And you’ll find as you experiment that you’ll get more and more in tune with your body. Eventually, you’ll be able to tell whether or not you’re likely to tolerate a food or other product just by smelling it or taking a small taste.

Keep in mind, intolerances are usually the result of over-exposure to a particular substance. Just because you’re not tolerating chocolate today doesn’t mean you can’t ever eat it again! You just need to give your body a break. After a while, you may be able to indulge your chocolate cravings again – in moderation.

Avoiding intolerances is the secret key to health and longevity!

Intolerances, although subtle, are one of the most important health problems that hardly anyone thinks about. But they affect nearly everyone!

Constant, life-long exposure to things you don’t tolerate creates chronic inflammation, weakens your constitution, and leaves you vulnerable to many kinds of illness and injury. The sooner you can eliminate whatever it is you don’t tolerate, the sooner your body can get back on track and live a longer, healthier, and happier life.

In his clinical practice, Dr. Morrissey has found that nearly everyone can benefit from finding and eliminating things they don’t tolerate. With this in mind, he developed both AllerDx and Digestiv specifically to help the body cope with intolerances, because many people find it difficult or impossible to avoid completely the exposures that trigger them. However, the best solution is always to minimize your exposure to anything you’re not tolerating.

Our mission at Plantiva is to provide everyone with the tools they need to manage their own health to the maximum extent possible. Get started on minimizing your intolerances today!

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For even more information, see our related blog post here.

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This information was developed based on the knowledge and experience of our founder, Dr. Stephen Morrissey.

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GLOSSARY

Intolerance: Sensitivity to a food or other substance or an environmental condition, causing discomfort or dysfunction.